Proud to be part of the Dare To Be Great Dementia Project

“A lot of the time you need to make sure you go into their life and their world and not expect them to come into yours because their world is a very different place…”

Providing a safe space to share memories

Last summer, Fable Arts, Ludus Dance and the Clifton Hospital in Lytham joined together in a creative collaboration Dare To Be Great to engage elderly people living with dementia in meaningful, accessible and sociable movement-based activity, providing a safe space for them to share memories and come together to share social time over tea and cake. Twelve young people, aged 16-25 from across Fylde who were involved in the project, helped to find the stories that steered the lives of local people, now living with dementia, in different directions and changed their experiences for the better.

Inspiring experiences and daring to be great

The group of young people were asked to create their own dare to be great situation at Lytham Festival 2017 and to help residents living with dementia at Clifton Hospital to remember theirs.

Take a look at the inspiring experiences and listen to some of the amazing stories in this new video about the project:

From taking part in chair-based movement sessions to chatting to the Clifton Hospital residents to performing on the main stage at Lytham Festival, the project gave “people a voice who wouldn’t normally have a voice” and “real value and pleasure”.

A powerful impact

Read about Laura Wyatt, one of the young people who took part in the project’s personal, joy-filled experience: “I couldn’t stop smiling as it was so rewarding to see how much life and energy the music and dancing brought to these patients, making them laugh and smile for maybe the first time in days.”

As well as making people smile, the project had some very powerful impacts for the hospital and learning for other hospital wards and patient care.